Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Partylist Rep. Jericho Nograles today revealed that the 604 kilos of shabu worth Php6.4 Billion that were seized by the Bureau of Customs in Valenzuela due to a tip by the Chinese government is just a fragment of the actual shipment.
Nograles said that all the shabu shipment, all brokered by Mark Taguba, were contained in printing machine cylinders declared as “moulds” and were all granted “green lane” privileges by the BoC.
Nograles said that based on the admission of BOC Intelligence and Investigation Service Director Neil Anthony Estrella, they can only account for approximately 2,000 kilograms out of the 12,700 kilograms inside the 40-footer container.
“The bill of lading of the 40-footer container declared a net weight of 12.7 metric tons. The BOC can only account for 600kgs of Shabu and give or take 1.4 tons of packaging. Where is the rest of the 10 tons?” Nograles asked.
Nograles also averred that if the rest of the shipment was Shabu, then there could be 3.6 tons of Shabu flooding the market or re-exported through our ports.
The DOJ admitted that the evidence is inadmissible because Estrella and his team tampered with the chain of custody and effected the raid without proper authority.
Nograles noted that last Thursday, the National Bureau of Investigation discovered three similar crates containing similar cylinders in an apartment in Sampaloc, Manila. All cylinders have already been opened and its contents were already moved elsewhere.
Nograles said that easily, the three cylinders could contain at least 120 kilos each since they are all identical with those that were seized in Valenzuela.
“I don’t think this is a coincidence. There is no way that the contents of the other 18 crates out of the 23 crates declared in the bill of lading would be different from the crates that were discovered in Valenzuela and now in Sampaloc, Manila. This only confirms my position that the five crates discovered in Valenzuela were part of a bigger shipment that managed to get through BoC’s green lane. This could be part of the 12.7 ton 40-foot container which was also the source of the Valenzuela cylinders,” Nograles said. “Or worse, it’s from another shipment.”
Nograles also noted that last January, another similar shipment passed through the BoC green lane as admitted by Fidel Anoche Dee, the consignee of the seized cylinders in Valenzula.
Dee claimed he saw three similar crates containing the same printing machine cyclinders that were delivered to their Valenzuela warehouse last January.
“In short this is already a modus and part of the scheme is to make sure that these shipments get the green lane privilege. We cannot win the war against drugs if we continue to have incompetent officers in the BoC,” Nograles said. (PNA)
